They flock-bond but they don't mate-bond. There is a difference between the two. And, going by my personal experience with them, lovebirds are particularly needy of the mate-bond... much more than other species. All one has to do is observe a bonded pair of them and it becomes very obvious why they are called 'love' birds (in Spanish, French and Italian, the species is called 'inseparables'). They really and truly love one another with a passion! You never see them more than a couple of inches from one another, even if you let them loose in a huge room! They sleep leaning against each other, they eat side by side and at the same time (and the males feed the females even when it's not breeding season), and they are always kissing and grooming each other. It's actually quite wonderful to see them!

I still don't understand why you think they can't have that bond with a human. It looks different because, obviously, we can't groom them all day long, but they can still have that relationship with a human.

And, regardless of how they see their relationship with us (even if it is a flock-blond) they should still trust us enough to take them outside for a walk.

Pajarita wrote:They flock-bond but they don't mate-bond. There is a difference between the two. And, going by my personal experience with them, lovebirds are particularly needy of the mate-bond... much more than other species. All one has to do is observe a bonded pair of them and it becomes very obvious why they are called 'love' birds (in Spanish, French and Italian, the species is called 'inseparables'). They really and truly love one another with a passion! You never see them more than a couple of inches from one another, even if you let them loose in a huge room! They sleep leaning against each other, they eat side by side and at the same time (and the males feed the females even when it's not breeding season), and they are always kissing and grooming each other. It's actually quite wonderful to see them!

sofiacb wrote:I still don't understand why you think they can't have that bond with a human. It looks different because, obviously, we can't groom them all day long, but they can still have that relationship with a human.

And, regardless of how they see their relationship with us (even if it is a flock-blond) they should still trust us enough to take them outside for a walk.

Yes they can have a bond with you, They probably have a Flock bond with you even with single lovebirds they wouldn't always have a mate bond with you.Theres no reason why they cant use a harness they are just saying its kinda dangerous for smaller birds but its your choice.

sofiacb wrote:I still don't understand why you think they can't have that bond with a human. It looks different because, obviously, we can't groom them all day long, but they can still have that relationship with a human.

And, regardless of how they see their relationship with us (even if it is a flock-blond) they should still trust us enough to take them outside for a walk.

Yes they can have a bond with you, They probably have a Flock bond with you even with single lovebirds they wouldn't always have a mate bond with you.Theres no reason why they cant use a harness they are just saying its kinda dangerous for smaller birds but its your choice.

I agree about not using the harness, the cage is better for a small bird.I was just talking about the bond you need to go outside with them.

Well, I guess the argument is born of the difference between the meaning we give to 'need'. Nothing is actually 'needed' to take a bird outside, not a harness, not a cage, not a bond, nothing but an open door. But, personally, anything that makes my birds lives better is 'needed' - something that, of course, is my own opinion and not necessarily shared by everybody else who has a bird.

The only reason why I say that companion birds do much, much better going outside than aviary birds is that companion birds develop a mate bond with their chosen human and, when they bond like that, they would choose to stay close to its mate even if the situation is frayed with danger. But, a flock bond is not that strong and taking them outside is just stressful to them so, although there is the benefit of the direct sunlight, taking into consideration the down side to it, I would choose placing a cage in front of an opened window so the sun can shine on them instead of taking them outside.

Sofia, no human can give a bird what another bird can give it. It's not a matter of how much we love them and what we are willing to do for them, it's a matter of belonging to completely different species, us being so much larger than them and not able to spend 24/7/365 with them. Even when we talk about handfed companion species that bond super deeply with humans and of a human spending all his/her waking moments with it, we are still shortchanging them. We can't sleep with them, we can't spend every minute of every single day of our lives with them, we can't feed them in the beak, we can't have sex with them, we can't make a nest with them, we can't fly with them - we are not birds! It's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of what it is and not what we would like it to be.